Witness protection eyed for Barayuga slay whistleblower

‘ELIGIBLE WITNESSES’ Police Lt. Col. Santie Mendoza (left) and Nelson Mariano testify before the House quad committee on Friday. —Niño Jesus Orbeta

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice (DOJ) is looking into admitting in its witness protection program (WPP) Police Lt. Col. Santie Mendoza, according to the chair of the House super panel investigating the links of the Pogo (Philippine offshore gaming operators) industry into illegal drugs and other criminal activities.

Mendoza, in an earlier hearing by the House quad committee, had tagged two former ranking police officials in the 2020 killing of retired general and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) board secretary Wesley Barayuga.

Quad committee chair Robert Ace Barbers on Monday said Mendoza could be eligible for witness protection as an exception to the ban on public officials being admitted into the program.

READ: PNP to reopen 2020 slay case of PCSO official

Apart from uncovering details that had prompted the reopening of the investigation into Barayuga’s killing, the super panel had also established that former President Rodrigo Duterte had gathered alumni of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) to discuss a so-called “Davao template,” days before assuming the presidency and launching his drug war.

The committee—made up of the House panels on dangerous drugs, public order and safety, human rights, and public accounts—is also looking into the link of Pogos with the extrajudicial killings during Duterte’s drug war.

In an interview with dzRH on Monday, Barbers said the DOJ was studying Mendoza’s confession and sworn statements.

“[Mendoza] looks eligible for the WPP but there is a prohibition on current government employees. There is an exception that the DOJ is looking into for the admission into the WPP of a government worker, especially a law enforcer whose testimony carries weight and was made in a legislative inquiry,” the Surigao del Norte representative said in Filipino.

The DOJ was reached for comment to confirm Barbers’ remarks but had yet to reply as of this writing.

Republic Act No. 6981, or the Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Act, provides that a law enforcement officer who may need protection as a witness cannot be admitted to the program, even if immediate family members are eligible.

But Section 4 of the law states that “In case of legislative investigations in aid of legislation, a witness, with his express consent, may be admitted into the [WPP] upon the recommendation of the legislative committee where his testimony is needed when in its judgment there is pressing necessity therefor: Provided, that such recommendation is approved by the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives, as the case may be.”